Weakness in Chinese foreign trade plus the steep downturn in trade with Russia during the first nine months of the year have taken their toll on volumes at the Port of Hamburg.
The port handled 104.6 million tons - 4.8% less than last year. And while bulk cargo handling in the first three quarters totalled 34.3 million tons, up 8.7%, this could not fully offset the decline in general cargo throughput, according to a port spokesman.
Container throughput in the first nine months totalled 6.7 million TEUs, down by 9.2%.
The downward trend in container traffic with Russia appears, however, to have been arrested and stability seems to be setting in, according to the spokesman.
